Your growing baby’s development in week 22

Help your growing baby develop in the twenty-second week of your pregnancy

In week 22, your growing baby’s organ systems are becoming more specialized. Find out how you can boost your growing baby’s development in this week.

What’s happening this week?

This week, your growing baby is completely covered with lanugoi, a down-like fine hair, which helps in holding the vernix caseosa (a greasy deposit covering the skin) on the skin. Your growing baby's eyebrows and eyelids are now developed and fingernails are also visible.ii Your growing baby’s organ systems are developing too, discharging some specialized functions. For example, the growing baby’s liver manages bilirubin, a result of the breakdown of blood cells.ii Your growing baby now weighs 12.25 ounces (350 g). He or she measures around 7.6 inches (19 centimeters) from crown to heel.ii

What can you expect?

With morning sickness most likely behind you now, your appetite should be back, along with pregnancy cravings. Manage any cravings for unhealthy food with a balanced diet and boost your pregnancy health with these tips:

Have healthy snacks on hand,, like nuts and fruits so you won’t be tempted by less nutritious food around.

Make it an occasional treat to eat foods you are craving for, and in a modest serving. You might experience food cravings during your pregnancy and we don’t really know all the reasons behind these cravings. It could be due to hormonal or emotional changes or could be indicative of your body’s need for nutrients contained in particular foods (please note that there is no scientific proof of this connection).ii

Your body will also tell you how it is preparing for labor – when you start experiencing painless, irregular contractions in your uterus at this pregnancy stage. These are known as Braxton-Hicks contractionsii and can start as early as the second trimester.

What can you do to support your pregnancy?

It’s time to increase the talking, singing, and reading you might have been doing up to now, nurturing that special bond between you and your growing baby. At the same time, you are providing him or her with fuel for the future, by nurturing both his or her IQ and EQ.

Meanwhile, continue to include foods rich in Omega 3 and especially DHA in your diet to help boost his or her developing brain and eyesightiii; and as always, keep your meals as balanced and nutritious as possible in order to facilitate multiple aspects of his or her growth – physical, cognitive, and emotional.